bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

Yesterday, U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL), Rick Scott (R-FL), Tom Cotton (R-AR) and Congress member Elise Stefanik (R-NY) introduced the "Countering CCP Drones Act".

Congress member Stefanik announced that, "“DJI drones pose a national security threat with wings. The possibility that DJI drones could be equipped to send live imagery of military installations, critical infrastructure, and the personal lives of American citizens to China poses too great a threat. Allowing this practice to continue in the U.S. is playing with fire. This Chinese-controlled company cannot be allowed to continue to operate in the U.S.”

Scott says, “All companies in Communist China are required to comply with government orders to conduct and assist in espionage activities..."

Blenheim Orange Loc: Michigan

I think the politicians are fear mongering and grandstanding.

DJI Security Fears: Debunking the Rumors (Again)

Drones flying in public areas and issuing a message recorded by the local law enforcement agency led one political figure to complain that DJI is “spying” – somehow making data gathered by the drone’s camera (in this case, of random groups gathering on sidewalks) available to China’s government. Despite an independent U.S.-based audit that concluded there was no risk to data, a Government edition drone and further efforts to ensure that operators can choose not to be connected in any way to the cloud, DJI has been forced to respond again to the rumors.

...


We want to address one area of concern that emerged over the weekend. The spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee tweeted links to an MSNBC story about the program and a 2017 New York Times story about DJI and commented, “US using Chinese drones to spy on and lecture Americans about a virus caused by communist China.” This message was picked up in several other stories that ran on conservative websites. Whatever your political leanings, this may cause questions for your internal and external stakeholders. So here are the facts:


As you know through your hands-on experience with DJI hardware and software, you have control over the photos, videos and flight logs you generate during your flights. This data is not transferred to DJI unless you deliberately choose to do so. We recently published this online guide to the privacy settings on DJI consumer and enterprise products, to help you understand how to manage the data you generate.

The news story refers to a leaked 2017 draft memo written by an office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, based on the word of a single unnamed source. Many of its claims are obviously false or easily disproven, and DJI has repeatedly debunked it, while ICE has never publicly released the memo or validated its contents. DJI also engaged an independent security research firm which analyzed the data security of our products and confirmed that DJI customers control how their data is collected, stored and transmitted.

DJI products designed for sensitive government uses have been independently reviewed and tested by U.S. cybersecurity consultants, U.S. federal agencies and the Idaho National Laboratory. Our drones exceed the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s recommended risk mitigation strategies for drone use in critical infrastructure. While the concerns about DJI are clearly motivated by political sentiment, this post on our corporate blog explains the facts behind them.

https://dronelife.com/2020/04/23/dji-security-fears-debunking-the-rumors-again/

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

What was different this time was a Washington Post article about the "revelation" that DJI is not an independent company and has to follow Chinese laws. Funny how that sounds like here in the USA where independent companies have to follow US laws.

Toby

Do they want small planes and satellites out lawed as well? I don't trust any idea driven by just one party particularly if it's supported by that whacko from Florida.